Page 93 of Concluded
On instinct, Achilles did something that was out of character for him and gently gathered John into an embrace.He did so carefully and loosely, so that John could easily pull away at any time.But instead John emitted a broken sob and clung tightly.Achilles could feel that John was heartbreakingly frail, nothing but skin stretched tightly over bones, and the skin crossed with myriad ridges of scars.
Which was funny, because after a moment John pulled away slightly and said, “You’ve been wounded.”
Achilles, who’d almost forgotten about his own scars due to the burgeoning disasters, laughed a little.“Once or twice.”
John hugged him then, as if Achilles were the one who needed comforting.“The Bureau kept me caged for a long time in a place not much better than this.But it was because of the Bureau that I met my Harry.And now you’ve come here to…?”
“We were all sent here against our will by people who are trying to commit atrocities.We’re working to get everyone out.”
“And to save the world,” added Buhalis.
Desmond spoke next.“John?I think I read about you and Harry.I was a librarian.Well, first I was a prisoner too, although I daresay I deserved it.Originally you were, um….”
“Sewn together from fragments of dead men by a real-life Frankenstein.Yes.I was a monster.But Harry treated me like a man, and I became one.I wasstrong.We had a bookshop, a little family, a long life together.”
Unlike Desmond, Achilles had never heard of John, but he was familiar with a few cases involving necromancers.Santiago had mentioned working on one.Fortunately, Achilles had never handled one himself, because the idea creeped him out.John wasn’t creepy, however.He was just a person who’d lost everything and had then been abandoned in this little slice of hell.Either Irina and her pals hadn’t realized he wasn’t human, or they’d decided that he held no particular value except as part of her collection.
“John,” he asked, “how did you get here?”
“A fire started in the shop—my apartment is there too, on the floor above.It was late at night.I was able to escape the building, everything in flames, everythinggone….”He took a deep breath.“A man and a woman I’d never seen before were standing on the street corner, watching.They said some things to me—I was far too upset to understand—and then I was here.At first I thought I’d died, but then I grew so weak, and that made sense only if I was still alive.I didn’t know?—”
“Wait.”Achilles was sorry to interrupt but was on the verge of an insight.“You were strong until you came here?”
“Yes.I aged, but not as much as a regular person.Not as much as Harry.He passed away just after his ninetieth birthday.”
“And you said it was originally Harry’s presence that strengthened you.”
John gave Achilles’ arm a gentle squeeze.“Not just his presence.It was his nurturing, his love.You see?I becamerealbecause he believed in me.And even after he was gone I had so many memories.So much of him was… was encapsulated in me.”
That was similar to what Townsend had once lectured Achilles about: a cousin to immortality.If someone is important to you, a part of them stays with you even after they die.
“I told you,” said Abe.“Love survives death.”
“Not in this place.I lost Harry when they sent me here.I remember him, of course.But I can’t feel him.I’m depleted.”
This was another of those things that would be interesting for the Bureau to research someday, if the Bureau were ever reconstituted: John was apparently sustained by affection much the same way a vampire was sustained by blood.And that sustenance didn’t require the physical presence of the beloved.What was more important right now, however, was that the black hole changed this.
“It’s a weapon!”Achilles exclaimed, probably startling everyone.“This place isn’t just a prison—it’s a weapon.”
“What do you mean, boychik?”
“Can’t you feel it?We’re being… bombarded with despair, the opposite of hope.Right, John?”
John squeezed him again.“Yes.”
“It’s why we all had that stupid argument before.Why we’re all tempted to just lie down and give up.Why an angel—a genuine goddamn angel—couldn’t find his way out.Why John withered away.And I think it’s why the stupid songs work to unite us.They counteract the despair.People sing the blues because it lifts their burdens a little.”This was important information.Achillesknewthat to the depths of his being, even if he didn’t yet understand why it was important.
Kurt said, “So you’re telling us that if we don’t get out of here soon, we’re all going to be destroyed.Or close enough that the difference doesn’t matter.”
Achilles shook his head impatiently even though nobody could see.“Almost all of us spent months, even years in Bureau training.And a good chunk of that time was learning what makes NHSs tick so we can deal with them.So we can kill them, if necessary.Sorry, John.I don’t mean?—”
“I understand.”
“The better we understand something, the better we can handle it.Now we understand this place better.Abe and I, we have an idea of how to get us all out and maybe save a lot of people.We just need one crucial ingredient: a djinn named Damnation.So we’re going to wait, and we’re going to hope like hell that he shows up.And while we wait, we’re going to stay strong by using all of our weapons.We’re going to generate all the hope we can.All the love and joy that we’re capable of.”
“Do we have to keep on singing?”Lu sounded a little plaintive.
When Achilles laughed, it felt wonderful.Like the first breaths after being underwater for too long.“We can take a break, I think.John?Would you like to tell us about Harry and your bookshop and Gavin?”
